Sunday, January 20, 2013

Sunday Soup (Or Is It Soup Sunday?)

I tried a new soup recipe this week and there's not much I can say about it . . . except it was THE BEST chicken with dumplings I have EVER made.  (And believe me, I've tried more than a few of 'em!)

This scrumptious recipe was shamelessly lifted from The Iowa Housewife where you can find any number of great recipes.  Sue and Myrna, sisters who write the blog, cook food from scratch that reminds one of what we sat down at the table to eat back when the only convenience foods were those a homemaker pulled off the pantry shelf or out of the freezer.

To find Sue's recipe for Chicken Stew with Dumplings (and a good picture) click here.  I made only a couple of small changes I'll tell you about after I post the recipe.

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CHICKEN STEW WITH DUMPLINGS

1 tablespoon butter
1/2 large chopped onion
1 cup sliced carrots
2 stalks sliced celery
1 pint canned chicken (or 1-1/2 cups cooked poultry)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 cups chicken broth (use any drained from canned meat plus
    home canned broth or prepared broth to make 3 cups)

Dumplings

3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cold butter
2 teaspoons parsley, dry or fresh
1/4 cup chicken broth (or milk)

Heat butter in soup pan over medium high heat until hot.  Add onion, carrots and celery; cook and stir until tender, about 10 minutes.  Add chicken, pepper and larger amount of broth.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 15 minutes.

Place flour and baking powder in bowl.  With pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in parsley.  Add remaining broth and stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto simmering stew.  (You should get about 12 dumplings.)  Cover and cook (don't lift cover!) over medium low heat for 10 to 15 minutes or until dumplings are firm.

Makes 4 servings.

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My notes:

I used two tablespoons of butter in which to saute the veggies instead of just one.

My meat was some boned turkey I had in the freezer and the last (sob) of the great turkey broth made from our Thanksgiving Day turkey.

Since I didn't have any fresh parsley, I substituted some fresh frozen chives from the freezer.  

I used broth in the dumplings which I thought gave them a unique and very flavorful taste.  (They were so tender, too!)

I cooked the dumplings for 10 minutes first but when I checked, I thought they needed that last 5 minutes to firm up, so cooked them the whole 15 minutes.

This recipe does serve only four so you may want to double it.  As Sue said in her post, while the dumplings are cooking the liquid of the stew magically (my word) turns into an almost gravy-like texture.  (Swoon.)

You won't be sorry if you try this soup/stew.  It.  Is.  So.  Good!!       

11 comments:

Carolyn said...

Better go find myself some more pecker-head roosters outside!

Mama Pea said...

Carolyn - Ha! Papa Pea were just talking this morning about one rooster that would be better off as some well-simmered stew meat! (Don't know how the rooster feels about that, but we're all for him being dispatched and put to better use.)

Sparkless said...

Oh yum that recipe does sound delicious. I have to skip Soup Sunday today because it's the daughter's 15th birthday today and she wants to have pizza.
I think she was very surprised and happy with her piano.

Erin said...

mmmmmmmm, DUMPLINGS!

Mama Pea said...

Sparkless - Pizza sounds good to me, too! Homemade or ordered in?

Glad your daughter was surprised and happy with her piano. She'll get a lot of enjoyment from it.

Mama Pea said...

Erin - I love dumplings, too. Should really make them more often!

Akannie said...

This does sound yummy...I make them from time to time, but am always on the lookout for recipes. (This one sounds alot like the one I use). My grandma always used biscuit dough to make them...I like the drop dumplings.

This might be just the ticket for tomorrow's supper...looking at a high of 20 and a low of (gasp!) 4.

Sparkless said...

It was ordered pizza. We normally make homemade but it was her request and we always honor birthday supper requests if we can.

judy said...

I make a pretty mean homemade chicken soup but why is my dumping recipe different than all your and your blog friends, mine is cover the soup with dumplings 10 min on 10 min off

Mama Pea said...

Akannie - We're packing up and coming to visit with you for a while. Our temp upon arising this morning was -15F. Not expected to get as high as zero today. Plus we had a wind all night. I think winter has arrived in the Northland!

Mama Pea said...

judy - I'll bet your dumplings your way cook just about the same as those that simmer for the full 15 minutes. Funny how there's so much variation in recipe for the "same" things, isn't it?